I Am a Dancer (Millbrook Picture Books)

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Pat Lowery Collins illustrations by

Mark Graham

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Millbrook Press

•

Minneapolis

To Patricia Conway —PL To Elena —MG

Text copyright © 2008 by Pat Lowery Collins Illustrations copyright © 2008 by Mark Graham All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means— electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review. Millbrook Press A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. 241 First Avenue North Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A. Website address: www.lernerbooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Collins, Pat Lowery. I am a dancer / by Pat Lowery Collins ; illustrated by Mark Graham. p. cm. — (Millbrook picture books) ISBN 978–0–8225–6369–3 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper) 1. Dance—Juvenile literature. 2. Dancers—Juvenile literature. 3. Picture books for children. I. Graham, Mark, 1952– ill. II. Title. GV1596.5.C65 2008 792.62—dc22 2007021885 Manufactured in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 – DP – 13 12 11 10 09 08

eISBN-13: 978-0-7613-4020-1

I am a dancer each morning as I shimmy out of bed,

zip down the banister,

or skip stairs.

I am a dancer when the tune in my head makes me reach and stretch and hop

or when notes from nowhere shiver through me and shake me around.

I am a dancer when I bend like grass in the wind or lean against it, not giving in, or when I flop down and turn myself into a dash or a dot.

I am a dancer when I chase the tide

or let it run after me

or when I jump back from a wave as it slaps the shore.

I am a dancer in my click-clacky shoes or my slip-slappy ones

or in bare feet that know how to spring and twist

and twirl.

I am a dancer to the steady drip-blip of rain, the whisper of trees, music carried on the air.

I am a dancer in the blowing leaves and autumn breezes,

and when I throw a pitch or reach for a catch.

Or quick-step to dribble a ball.

I am a dancer

with the leaping deer, the wheeling hawk, the soaring eagle,

the darting hummingbird,

the jumping frog.

Sometimes I am a dancer to a silent throb that makes me spin and sway

and try to fly.

And whenever the beat of the world’s heart moves into your fingers and toes until you leap and turn and take off,

you are a dancer too.

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You don’t need lessons, special shoes, or even music to be a dancer. Whenever you bound down the stairs, throw a ball, or just romp around on the lawn, you’re moving just the way a dancer does.

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